2 Thessalonians 3

2:15  So then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the teachings we passed on to you, whether by word of mouth or by letter.16  May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope,17  encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word.

Nail it down and hang on… Stand firm or stand fast - do not be moved from that wherein you find yourself perhaps? Hold is to do not let go of, to hold firmly to, Teachings is paradosis - 1 Cor. 11:2 - in the gospels the same word is used to refer to the traditions of the elders. Paul does as well in Galatians 1:14, both spoken and written. We have been loved by God, and by his grace been given eternal encouragement (paraklesis - paraclete word - comfort … the word has with it the connotation of strengthening - comfort set in cement. ) Consolation for all time, for all eternity, and good (agathos - good in nature, in the final sense) hope - evlpi,da by means of or through grace - This hope is not a pagan hope, or an atheist hope, a hopeful thought or possibility, but rather a Christians hope - a sure and certain promise and security based in the nature and goodness of God. This is a hope that is good in both it’s nature and it’s results.

Since all of this happened at the cross, and was appropriated for and by us at our conversion, it applies to our daily life and walk. In every good word and work. The natural outcome of the Christian life is good. In our families and the goals and purposes we have for them. In our personal life and what we say of ourselves and others. In our life together in the body of Christ, with those we get along with and those we don’t.

"We prayed for the giants of communism to be felled in the Eastern Bloc, and they landed with a thud.  Now we must pray for India.  There are 700 million Indians (one out of every six people on earth)--mostly unreached by the gospel.... There is one church starting every seven minutes in India's Hindu heartland."

                               --Loren Cunningham

The more pleasure we take in the word, and works, and ways of God, the more likely we shall be to persevere therein. But, if we are wavering in faith, and of a doubtful mind, halting and faltering in our duty, no wonder that we are strangers to the joys of religion. Matthew Henry

An interesting thing for me these past few months has been that as I spend more time in the word, I find a lot more meat in the word! Things that I would have missed, jump off the page, relationships and meaning, connections between the Old and New Testaments, the gospels and the letters, seem to become clearer and clearer. One thing that facilitates this process is one’s approach to Scripture: If one holds a high view of the word, one tends to remember more and to hide more in one’s heart.

3:1 Finally, brothers, pray for us that the message of the Lord may spread rapidly and be honored, just as it was with you. 2  And pray that we may be delivered from wicked and evil men, for not everyone has faith.

3  But the Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen and protect you from the evil one. 4  We have confidence in the Lord that you are doing and will continue to do the things we command. 5  May the Lord direct your hearts into God's love and Christ's perseverance.

6  In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we command you, brothers, to keep away from every brother who is idle and does not live according to the teaching you received from us. 7  For you yourselves know how you ought to follow our example. We were not idle when we were with you, 8  nor did we eat anyone's food without paying for it. On the contrary, we worked night and day, laboring and toiling so that we would not be a burden to any of you.

9  We did this, not because we do not have the right to such help, but in order to make ourselves a model for you to follow. 10  For even when we were with you, we gave you this rule: "If a man will not work, he shall not eat."

11  We hear that some among you are idle. They are not busy; they are busybodies. 12  Such people we command and urge in the Lord Jesus Christ to settle down and earn the bread they eat.

13  And as for you, brothers, never tire of doing what is right. 14  If anyone does not obey our instruction in this letter, take special note of him. Do not associate with him, in order that he may feel ashamed. 15  Yet do not regard him as an enemy, but warn him as a brother.

16  Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times and in every way. The Lord be with all of you. 17  I, Paul, write this greeting in my own hand, which is the distinguishing mark in all my letters. This is how I write. 18  The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.

In the red rock country of Colorado stand tall, slender pillars of stone that stretch upward toward the western sky.  They stand like towering sentinels, rising majestically above the canyon floor.  The reason they remain in place while everything around them has been leveled by the eroding forces of wind and rain is because running through these protruding formations is a core of granite, which caps off the top with a large, flat slab. This is why these rocky spires have remained impervious to the elements down through the years.

     Through faith in Jesus Christ and the strengthening of the indwelling Spirit, we can be like these majestic columns of rock.

   "To strut into a courtroom guilty and claim innocence is not power but

weakness.

     To refuse to acknowledge failure is not success but self-deception.

     To resist repentance before God is not intelligence but folly.

     To be puffed up with pride in the face of wrongdoing is not to become

bigger but to become hollow."           (Ravi Zacharias)